The Velvet Underground never fails to intrigue and mystify. Does anyone know anything about the keyboard instrument that first gurgles into the improv brew of "Chic Mystique" at approx. 15:30, and arises to the surface at approx. 16:45? It sounds to my ears like, of all things, a melodica, yet I'm aware of no other use of that instrument in the VU's known work.

I'd guess it's John playing it, but can't readily detect what instrument disappears from the brew (which could be a deductive clue) prior to its uptaking. Could this barely-known recording have, somehow, been the root of Augustus Pablo's introduction of melodica into Jamaican music? WTF?!?!

It is interesting, and I've always assumed it was a melodica - certainly has that sound. I wondered if possibly Nico played it? If you can pick it a tune on a harmonium I figure you could pick one out on a melodica. That said, I've always found it impossible to decipher the actual instruments on Chic Mystique, let alone who plays them.